StarPyre by Jade Waltz (ebook reader 7 inch .txt) 📕

lured me in with their charm and trapped me here for some unknown reason. On top of it all, I had fucked one of them. Good job, Tori.

We didn’t trap you!

I stilled my jerking movements and zeroed in on the sapphire male holding onto my wrist.

Had he spoken? Or was I hearing things? With the day I was having, either could be true. I half-expected him to tell me next no harm would come of me as long as I followed his directions.

If this man could truly comprehend and speak English, I wondered why he’d acted like he didn’t understand me earlier.

“Let go of my wrist,” I said slowly, as I pointed at his hand.

The male next to him asked his leader something, but the sapphire male shook his head with a lengthy reply as his icy blue gaze pierced mine.

Nod once if you understand me.

Puzzled, I did what I was told as I tried to piece together how he was able to talk to me without moving his lips. Was he some sort of ventriloquist?

What is the name of your clan?

“Why do you want my last name?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Shouldn’t you know all about me? You’re the ones who kidnapped me.”

I don’t understand your native tongue, female. His tone of voice seemed disappointed, but whether that was directed at me or our situation, I didn’t know. I wish you would respond to me in kind.

“What are you talking about? You’re the one being cryptic.” I fought back my fight-or-flight instinct, afraid if I lashed out now, they would punish me worse than they already had. There were three of them and one of me, and with every passing moment, putting up a physical fight seemed like less of a good idea. I was going to survive this. I had to think first and act later. “I’m the one being held hostage.”

You are a royal. How have you lost the ability to mindspeak?

Confused, I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I’m no royal. I’m just some average girl who—”

The emerald male jerked his head away, looking over my shoulder as he said something unintelligible. Following his gaze, a shimmer caught my eye in the haphazard pile of the white material that had once covered me.

He picked up the shining object off the floor, cleaning it off as he returned.

In his hand, he held a familiar silver crown decorated with crystal stars and planets. It matched the pair of space-themed silver engraved bracelets around my wrists.

My prizes.

The memory of the music festival flashed across my mind, hitting me like a brain freeze on a hot summer day. I had won the costume contest and was named the Star Queen.

How can you deny your royal heritage when you have the coloring and jewelry to prove it? He paused as the emerald male sat the crown upon my head, studying me intently. Why do you deny me the knowledge I need to aid you?

“What knowledge?” I demanded. “I’m sick and tired of you repeating the same shit over and over. You’re the ones who brought me here, to do who knows what.” I threw up my free hand, jerking the captured one in the process. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you want me to roleplay along with you, then sure, I can be your Star Queen.”

The sapphire male closed his icy eyes and sighed. I didn’t know if he was relieved that I agreed to play his game or disappointed that I wouldn’t give him the ‘knowledge’ that he sought.

Goosebumps covered my body from the room’s cool air as I sat topless, straddling the male I’d ravished the night before. I felt dirty, not just due to all the makeup and glitter that I’d caked on for the music festival, but also last night’s remnants caked between my thighs. If he wanted me to cooperate, then I needed an opportunity to wash up and get dressed in something warmer than the metallic skirt and tankini top.

I knew I wasn’t in a position to make demands or even haggle, but I needed to try. My kidnappers had to have some shred of humanity and morality within them. At least, I hoped so.

Lost in thought, as I stared at the metallic walls of my cell, I didn’t notice the leader’s change in demeanor. One moment, my wrist was released, the next, two hands captured my cheeks and dragged my face to his.

His ice-blue eyes froze me in place, locking me in a trance-like state as my body refused to move. I tried in vain to pull my gaze away when I caught a flick of movement in his sapphire and white wings, shimmering and extended behind him. His swirling pupils mesmerized me, their intensity growing until they were too bright for me to handle. My eyelids refused to close; instead, the white glow of his eyes drew me in, dimming the rest of the world.

My senses dulled until I was nothing but a spirit stuck inside my own body, as a candle inside of a lantern. I lived in an enclosure that was no longer mine to control.

Show me who you are. The sapphire male’s tenor voice vibrated from within.

The white void around me morphed into a million floating images as if a seamless sphere of screened recordings surrounded us. A sense of unease filled me at the familiarity of the displayed clips. Focusing on each, in turn, I noticed they all showed me at different stages of my life.

My first bike ride.

My first kiss.

The time I caught the kitchen on fire while microwaving a piece of bread.

The moment I was crowned Star Queen.

If you aren’t a royal Swynemi, then what are you?

The scenes rapidly changed, as if he was searching for something, or trying to solve a mystery revolving around me. I felt like the star of a crime show, with all the evidence laid out before me—before him—and the answer standing